Peyton Manning wants faster offense

The Denver Broncos finished tied for the fourth-most offensive plays last season, but Peyton Manning wants his team to play even faster in 2013.

Denver ran 1,090 offensive plays during the regular season, an average of 68.13 per game, but Manning wants the Broncos to get closer to the league-leading New England Patriots, who ran 1,191 plays (74.44 per game). The Broncos also finished second in scoring offense to the Patriots last season, with 481 points compared to the Patriots' 557.

The 37-year-old quarterback told The Denver Post on Tuesday that the Broncos "can play faster."

"For whatever reason, our offense plays better the faster we go. I think that was clear cut last season. The receivers liked it; they got into a rhythm," Manning told the newspaper. "Anything we can do as an offense to build off that, anything we can do to make us more efficient as an offense, that's what we're looking to do."

Manning threw for 4,659 yards and 37 touchdowns in 2012, both the second-best totals in his career.

Manning's receiving corps figures to be one of the most dangerous in the league as former Patriots receiver Wes Welker joins Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas, who each had breakout years last season, Thomas with 1,434 yards and Decker with 1,064.

Thomas said Tuesday he doesn't think his production will diminish with the arrival of Welker, who has 672 catches in the past six seasons.

"I knew when he was coming in that I would probably get more one-on-one coverage, so I was kind of excited, actually," said Thomas, who caught 94 passes last season.